


Distance Summoning

by yuletide_archivist



Category: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-22
Updated: 2004-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-25 07:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1638902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christopher's feeling bored and restricted at Chrestomanci Castle.<br/>Millie's away at school. An epistolary (well, mostly epistolary) story<br/>featuring kittens, studying, and late-night against-the-rules magic</p>
            </blockquote>





	Distance Summoning

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Triskellian

 

 

Dear Millie,

Of _course_ we're taking good care of Proudfoot; if you don't believe me now, maybe you will when you come back for Christmas and see her new kittens, two of whom look suspiciously like Throgmorten. Flavian is very excited about the kittens and wonders whether they'll be true Asheth Temple cats in spite of being born outside of the Temple (and outside of Series Ten for that matter). In fact, he wanted me to ask you, "whether there is any traditional wisdom or folklore regarding the inheritance of Divine Aspect in Asheth Temple Cats." I told him to write himself, but he insisted, and one ought occasionally to do as one's tutor asks, even if one's tutor is Flavian. So, I have asked you and may, I think, consider myself absolved of my duty to Flavian, at least on the cat-question-involving front.

How's school? Have you had your fill of stodge yet? Still thrilling over Prep? I know you're not cheeking the prefects any more now that you are one. Are girls' school prefects as horrid as boys' school prefects? I don't mean you, of course, but just prefects in general. I'm sure you are the loveliest and most wonderful prefect in the history of All School, and that you always have a kind word ready for even the stickiest of first year girls. All I'm saying, though, is that the prefects are not one of the things I missed when I left school.

Things are awfully flat here alone at the castle. Two more months will go terribly slowly without you. Write soon, won't you?

Yours,

Christopher

***** ***** ***** *****

Dear Christopher,

How could you, you awful, awful boy! _Why_ didn't you tell me Proudfoot was going to have kittens? You have been _deliberately withholding information_ , and I shall not forget this. You're still withholding information, because you haven't told me anything interesting about the kittens. How many are there? What colors? How many boys and how many girls? Have you named them yet? And what do you mean they look like Throgmorten?

Tell Flavian that as far as I know all Asheth Temple cats are born inside the Temple. But Mother Proudfoot and the other priestesses never let any of the cats outside the Temple before Throgmorten and Proudfoot. Goodness, we certainly wouldn't have kept Throgmorten if we hadn't had a firm policy of keeping all Asheth Temple cats in the Temple. I know I was happy enough to see him go. But what I really want to know is why in Asheth's Name Flavian _wants_ to know whether the new kittens are Temple cats? No one had better lay a hand on those kittens, no matter _how_ magical they may be.

School is still fairly wonderful. Maybe not prep, and I'm afraid all the stodge is making me stout, and I can't say I really care for hockey, which isn't nearly as much fun in real life as it seemed in the Lowood House School books. Do you still miss school terribly? I'm sure you're learning loads more than I am, certainly about magic anyhow. We're forbidden to use magic outside of magic class here, and we hardly learn anything in class, since most of the girls are not particularly powerful magic users. I did conjure up some food from the kitchens last week as we used to do at the Castle, but I got in dreadful trouble and had to write out lines every night for a week. Yesterday I wanted more than anything to root Angela Fellsworth's feet to the floor, but the Magic master was right there and I didn't dare. Besides, Angela's a terrible tell-tale.

I should go, since I'm just sneaking this letter in before lights-out. Keep and eye on Flavian and the kittens for me, and don't let him try anything or you will both hear about it from ME.

Yours ever,

Millie

***** ***** ***** *****

Dear Millie,

Five. White, ginger, and tortoiseshell. Three and two. No. They're just sort of cockeyed and Throgmortenish. Don't worry, they don't smell too bad.

I trust you will not accuse me of withholding information again.

And really, you mustn't worry about the kittens. I don't think Flavian has any nefarious designs upon their intestines or claws. He just likes to know about things. You know. If he hasn't killed Throgmorten yet, I'm sure the kittens are safer than safe. I ought to have told you about the kittens sooner. I'm sorry.

I suppose I am learning an awful lot of magic here. I've been working on my long-distance conjuring and responding to summoning, so maybe soon enough you'll be able to call me up any time you like, though I don't know what they'd think of that at your School. More lines for you, I expect, and a deadly lecture from Gabriel for me.

Gabriel's done much less lecturing lately, though, so I oughtn't to complain too much. I think he knows that I _will_ be able to take over as Chrestomanci and that it's an awful relief to him, since you know he never really has liked the job. I think he was afraid he'd have to stay Chrestomanci until he died (actually, that's what I thought at first as well, and it's a great relief to know I won't be stuck as Gabriel's assistant or something until he dies, since he's very probably got another 25 years or so of living ahead of him, especially given that he's still got several lives left). Anyhow, now I sometimes feel like he's in a positively indecent hurry to get me trained so that he can retire. I think he's going to quit nearly as soon as I'm of age! It's not that I don't want to do it or even that I think that I can't do it, just maybe not yet. The ordering people around bit and the magic bit are awfully jolly, but the Magical Law Enforcement and the Responsibility and the Work bits are rather stupid. And honestly, I'm only 17 and I'm dreadfully irresponsible, as Gabriel should well know. Surely I'm not quite ready to be policing all the use and abuse of magic in the worlds.

I remain your obedient servant etc. etc. etc.,

Christopher Chant

***** ***** ***** *****

Dear Christopher,

Oh, I wish I _could_ summon you up. It'd give Angela Fellsworth a terrible shock. She's determined to drive me mad. She wants like anything to be Head Girl next year and she'll do any dirty thing to suck up to the teachers. She's a magic user, though not a very strong one. The other day she enchanted Lisette DuPont (who's French _and_ has no magic at all, poor thing) to say the most awful things to Miss Hurst (the Head, you know). Fortunately, Lisette was able to say most of it in French, and Hurst doesn't speak a word of French you know, but Madame Jaulliac was absolutely _scandalized_.

I'm surprised Lisette wasn't expelled. Hurst and Jaulliac don't know any magic (the magic master's the only grown-up magic user in the school, and he's only at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays) so they couldn't tell it was Angela doing it. I only saw the very end of the whole fiasco, so by the time I realized what was going on and started to block Angela's magic, the damage was done. So Lisette's quite out of the Head Girl running now, not that I think they would have chosen a French girl, even though she's really very good.

Don't worry about becoming Chrestomanci, Christopher. I mean, really, I was the Living Asheth from the time I was just a baby, practically. Though of course I didn't really have many duties aside from getting carried around town once a year. Anyhow, I'm sure you'll do fine and Gabriel can't possibly retire until you're at least 21, and that's almost four whole years away. And just think! When he _does_ retire, you'll be able to do whatever you like without any fear of cautionings or lecturings.

How would one go about summoning you, if one particularly needed to see you? Is it just like with Gabriel, where you say Chrestomanci and he shows up? If I said "Christopher Chant" three times, would you appear in the dormitory? (I won't say it, just in case.)

Yrs,

Millie

PS How are the kittens doing? And Proudfoot?

***** ***** ***** *****

Dear Millie,

Flavian says that allowing yourself to be summoned is really all about listening and paying attention, but Gabriel says that once you've learned you don't need to pay attention at all because it all happens on a Subconscious Level, which is really just a fancy way of saying "in the back of your head" as far as I can tell. If you don't respond to a summons right away it starts to nag at you like something you've forgotten but can't quite remember.

Really, though, the thing about summoning people (and it seems it can work even for quite weak magic users, thought it's less powerful and less reliable), the thing is that you need to need the person you're summoning and you need to know who that person is (that's why the names are so important). So if you needed me (for example) you'd just have to think about what you needed me for and you could use my name or my title (once I'm Chrestomanci) or since you know me you could just think about who I am. Oh, and it's easiest to summon people whom you know well, like your friends and family. And of course it's harder to summon people who are far away or in different worlds.

I'm quite good at responding to summonings from people I know who are inside the Castle, but I'm not as reliable when they're further away or strangers. And I need to learn how to stop myself from being summoned falsely, which is apparently a big problem in summoning. In the meantime, Gabriel's put all sorts of watch spells and restrictions on me so that I can't be summoned by baddies, which is absolutely _delightful_ , as I'm sure you'd agree. Nothing more agreeable than having one's every move restricted and watched. I've been working on it non-stop so that I can get free of all this as soon as possible.

Yours in extreme exhaustion,

Christopher

PS The kittens are all very healthy but they have been temporarily restricted to my room after Bernard nearly broke his neck tripping over one on the stairs. Proudfoot is very well and seems entirely recovered from her confinement.

***** ***** ***** *****

Christopher sat by the fire after the rest of the Castle had gone to sleep, poring over _A Theory of Summoning, Being a Treatise on the Art and Science of the Summoning Spells, for Enchanters and Students of Magic_. It was slow going, and he kept starting to fall asleep, but then he'd notice one of the anti-summoning spells - they felt like mosquito bites or pebbles in his shoe - and he'd wake up again with a new resolve to master the spells once and for all and get free of Gabriel's restrictions for good.

Christopher had never felt so dull. The weather had been awful and between that and his feverish studying he hadn't been outside in days. He went straight from his lessons to his room, determined to get through the dangerous patch. He scarcely tasted his food at mealtimes and didn't speak much at all except in the course of his lessons.

In frustration he threw _A Theory of Summoning_ into the fireplace, but thought better of it and conjured it back out before it really caught fire. There were already scorch marks, though, and he knew he'd hear about those in the morning. He sat with his head in his hands and wished there was some way he could learn it all off tonight so that he could finally get a good night's sleep away from the quiet, maddening itch of Gabriel's spells.

Christopher heard a strange sound behind him and jumped up and turned around with a start. There was someone in the room with him. He brandished _A Theory of Summoning_ in a threatening manner.

"Oof," the shadowy figure said. "Oh. Christopher?"

"Millie?" he answered, cautiously. "Millie, what on earth are you doing here? How long have you been back there? How did you get here?"

Millie stood up and dusted herself off with her hands. She was wearing a white nightgown and her hair was pinned up in white curling papers.

"You summoned me," she said, in a voice that Christopher considered a little more matter-of-fact than the situation warranted. "It was just like you said - I was sure I'd forgotten something. I got up from bed and checked to see if my slippers were still by the fire, or if I still had any assignments left over from prep, but I couldn't everything was taken care of. And then I was here. So what did you need me for?"

"I didn't mean to! I don't know what I needed you for. How did it feel, being summoned from all that way away? How did you stop yourself from being summoned before you came here? As soon as anyone summons me I just go - I can't stop myself."

"Oh, it's all right," Millie said. "I wasn't doing anything interesting. I think it's pretty obvious why you summoned me here, though."

Christopher turned to poke at the fire. "What do you mean?"

"You need help resisting and responding to summoning. I, apparently, am able to respond to long-distance summoning. Clearly, I am here to help. But if I'm not back before breakfast I'll be in such trouble you can't imagine, so we'd better get started." Millie took _A Theory of Summoning_ from Christopher and glanced at the introduction. "Oh, this isn't going to be any help at all. You need practical work. I'll try and summon you without really needing you, and you try to resist me. Do you have a dressing-gown I could borrow? I'm freezing. Where are the kittens?"

After a few hours of practice and practical advice from Millie, Christopher was exhausted but he could stop himself from being summoned most of the time. Christopher, Millie, and five kittens sat down together in front of the fire and closed their eyes (just for a moment).

Christopher woke to the clock striking five and a kitten kneading his chest with tiny, razor-like claws. Millie was even faster asleep than he had been, and her head rested on his chest. He shook her gently. Fairly gently, anyhow. "Millie! Millie! You've got to get back to school!"

Millie woke up and rubbed her eyes "Oh, Asheth!" she cried, seeing the clock, "How do I get back?"

"I don't know. I could go back in your place, but I can't take you with me. You haven't learned personal transportation yet in your magic classes, have you?" Christopher asked hopefully.

"Of course not, I told you those classes are useless. Oh, it's hopeless! I'll never make Head Girl and I'll be expelled and no Swiss finishing school will ever have me now. I can't possibly get back to school by breakfast without magic, and neither of us knows the magic to get me there. Some enchanters we are."

Christopher took Millie's hand. "I think I know someone who can help us," he said as he dragged her out the door toward the landing.

"Christopher, I will _not_ go to Gabriel for help," Millie said. "I'll walk back before I get you in trouble with Gabriel."

"We're not going to Gabriel," he said. "We're going to Mordecai Roberts." Millie must have thought that sounded like a much better idea, since she wasn't nearly so difficult to drag after that.

Millie and Christopher tiptoed to Mordecai and Miss Rosalie's rooms. They could hear Miss Rosalie snoring quietly behind the door, and they realized they had no idea how to wake Mordecai without also waking Miss Rosalie, who would probably be significantly less helpful and tolerant than Mordecai.

"Tacroy!" Christopher whispered, while Millie said, "Mr. Roberts!"

"Can I help you two?" asked a voice directly behind them. Millie spun around and squealed (very quietly).

"Mr. Roberts!" she said. "We were just looking for you!"

Mordecai put his finger to his lips and motioned for the Millie and Christopher to follow him. When they were out in the hall he spoke. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"Millie needs to get back to school right away. But how did you sneak up behind us that way?" Christopher asked.

"Don't worry," Mordecai said, "I'll show you another time. Do you want to go straight back to your dormitory, Millie, or somewhere else at the school?"

"Oh, the dorms please, thanks!" Millie replied, and suddenly she was gone.

"Why didn't you let me say goodbye?" Christopher asked. "And how did you do that?"

"I'll show you another time," Mordecai said. "Now get to sleep before Gabriel finds you out wandering the corridors at night. If he doesn't know already."

"Tacroy--" Christopher said, grinning, "Thanks."

***** ***** ***** *****

Dear Christopher,

Hope the summoning is going well. I nearly got in trouble for coming to visit you - Angela Fellsworth attempted to turn me in to the Magic master for doing magic outside of class, but he called her a terrible tell-tale and said he didn't believe a word of it! So all is well.

I am also sending a bundle containing your dressing-gown, which should follow this letter quite soon. It's a lovely dressing-gown but I couldn't keep it here without someone wondering where it came from. oHoH

Best wishes to you, the kittens, and especially Mr. Roberts even if he is a bit abrupt sometimes.

Always yours,

Millie

 


End file.
